South Africa-Sunday June 5th.
Started our day off by going to church of course! We went to New Life Church for their Sunday morning service. Mike and Michelle Tessendorf, the people who started Helping Hands in Africa pretty much started that church and helped to get it to where it is today which is AMAZING! I had a smile on my face throughout the whole service. I thought we let loose at Sun Valley but man oh man, the people at New Life were movin and grovin! Everyone was so happy and just dancing and really enjoying worship. WHat was cool was that i pretty much knew all the songs they sang and really got to let loose in worship as well. You could definitely feel Gods presence in that building. I have never felt so comfortable in another church before. Everyone was so welcoming and you could just tell they were happy that you where there. They showed that they really cared and wanted to truly invest in the lives of the people in their community. The attitude and atmosphere of New Life was incredible. During worship there was one song that we sang that i felt as if they were singing it just for me. It was just what i needed to hear that day..."When the oceans rise
and the thunder roars,
I will soar with you above the storm.
Father you are King over this flood,
I will be still and know you are God."
and the thunder roars,
I will soar with you above the storm.
Father you are King over this flood,
I will be still and know you are God."
With all the crazyness and heartache and just dumb stuff going on in my life lately, i have felt like i was in a never ending "storm" just swirling around getting lost in the waves but hearing the people in the church sing that, i totally felt as if they were just singing it to me, 
God was telling me that it will be ok, He is there. idk how to explain it besides just being one of those "God Moments" it was amazing!!
After church we went on a short game drive and saw some pretty sweet animals!! Mainly rhinos. they were sooo cool!!
After the game drive and eating and all that important stayin healthy stuff, we went to Molelwane, the village that we would be doing VBS at, met the pastor and then he took us on a tour of the village. At first there were a few kids walking along the dirt paths just a few yards from us and then all of a sudden there are about 20 kids running along side us, holding our hands and walking with us. we didnt know them and they didnt know us but they didnt care. if you just smiled at them, BAM they were glued to your hip and you just had a best friend. Those kids just longed for love and affection. Never underestimate the power of a smile. To those kids, that means the world to them! While we were walking and just hanging out with the kids, the little girl that was holding my hand looked up at me, smiled and said "youre beautiful." Now when a guy says that to you its like, "awww shucks. youre so sweet!"
but when a little girl who is now an orphan due to HIV/Aids says it you you, it just melts your heart and you want to take her home with you! She left me speechless. All i could do was smile and hug her to keep myself from crying!! haha While walking through the village, i noticed that if you looked in the dirt, you would find more bare footprints in the dirt than shoe prints. That hit me hard. I knew that we were going into a poor village, but just the fact that these children are walking around barefoot during the winter time when there is glass and trash all over the place was hard to see in real life. I 
knew it was happening, but it was just hard to see. Makes you want to take your own shoes and socks off and put them on the kids feet! The first picture of the building is of the church that we held VBS in for the kiddos. the next picture is just one of the tin shacks that are scattered around the village and then the last picture is just a group of the boys who waled around the village with us. SUch beautiful kids!!! they LOVED getting their pictures 
taken(: 
once they saw you had a camera BAM they would strike a pose of grab the kids next to them and ask you to take a picture. The last picture is Will showin the kiddos their pictures. They were so stinkin cute! i miss them soooo much!
one thing that i struggled with that day was being intimidated by the kids. yes i know, dumb. but i was just so worried that i would do or say the wrong thing or that i would scare them or something. I was just nervous i guess. but its hard to mess up with them. As long as you have a face to smile with, arms to hug them with, hands for them to hold and a heart to love them with, youre good to go!!! That night i found a verse that helped me out a TON!! 2 Timothy 1:7 it says, "For God did not give you a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, love and self discipline." I LOVE this verse! It reminded me to not be afraid or nervous when working with the kids, Gods in control! Gotta share this part that i wrote in my journal that night after reading tha verse, it just makes me laugh. no joke this is what i wrote..."dont fear because God is with you and He has given you a "Spirit of POWER" to go and kick some satan-ass!" hahaha sorry for the language but that just made me chuckle. well i think that pretty much wraps up that day!! so thats all for now! (:
peaces!
-em
quotes for that day:
"you are such a pushover. if someone takes your pie, you fight for it! dude, if someone took my pie they would have a fork in their eye."-peter
"DONT TAKE PETER'S FOOD!!!"-Will (yelling from inside the bathroom lol)
"Did you know we swallow 500 spiders a day?''-Kaylee
"No, thats like in your life time and its like 50."-Sarah
God was telling me that it will be ok, He is there. idk how to explain it besides just being one of those "God Moments" it was amazing!!
After church we went on a short game drive and saw some pretty sweet animals!! Mainly rhinos. they were sooo cool!!After the game drive and eating and all that important stayin healthy stuff, we went to Molelwane, the village that we would be doing VBS at, met the pastor and then he took us on a tour of the village. At first there were a few kids walking along the dirt paths just a few yards from us and then all of a sudden there are about 20 kids running along side us, holding our hands and walking with us. we didnt know them and they didnt know us but they didnt care. if you just smiled at them, BAM they were glued to your hip and you just had a best friend. Those kids just longed for love and affection. Never underestimate the power of a smile. To those kids, that means the world to them! While we were walking and just hanging out with the kids, the little girl that was holding my hand looked up at me, smiled and said "youre beautiful." Now when a guy says that to you its like, "awww shucks. youre so sweet!"
but when a little girl who is now an orphan due to HIV/Aids says it you you, it just melts your heart and you want to take her home with you! She left me speechless. All i could do was smile and hug her to keep myself from crying!! haha While walking through the village, i noticed that if you looked in the dirt, you would find more bare footprints in the dirt than shoe prints. That hit me hard. I knew that we were going into a poor village, but just the fact that these children are walking around barefoot during the winter time when there is glass and trash all over the place was hard to see in real life. I 
knew it was happening, but it was just hard to see. Makes you want to take your own shoes and socks off and put them on the kids feet! The first picture of the building is of the church that we held VBS in for the kiddos. the next picture is just one of the tin shacks that are scattered around the village and then the last picture is just a group of the boys who waled around the village with us. SUch beautiful kids!!! they LOVED getting their pictures 
taken(: 
once they saw you had a camera BAM they would strike a pose of grab the kids next to them and ask you to take a picture. The last picture is Will showin the kiddos their pictures. They were so stinkin cute! i miss them soooo much!one thing that i struggled with that day was being intimidated by the kids. yes i know, dumb. but i was just so worried that i would do or say the wrong thing or that i would scare them or something. I was just nervous i guess. but its hard to mess up with them. As long as you have a face to smile with, arms to hug them with, hands for them to hold and a heart to love them with, youre good to go!!! That night i found a verse that helped me out a TON!! 2 Timothy 1:7 it says, "For God did not give you a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, love and self discipline." I LOVE this verse! It reminded me to not be afraid or nervous when working with the kids, Gods in control! Gotta share this part that i wrote in my journal that night after reading tha verse, it just makes me laugh. no joke this is what i wrote..."dont fear because God is with you and He has given you a "Spirit of POWER" to go and kick some satan-ass!" hahaha sorry for the language but that just made me chuckle. well i think that pretty much wraps up that day!! so thats all for now! (:
peaces!
-em
quotes for that day:
"you are such a pushover. if someone takes your pie, you fight for it! dude, if someone took my pie they would have a fork in their eye."-peter
"DONT TAKE PETER'S FOOD!!!"-Will (yelling from inside the bathroom lol)
"Did you know we swallow 500 spiders a day?''-Kaylee
"No, thats like in your life time and its like 50."-Sarah
So awesome Em! I'm so proud of you for going to the other side of the world and loving on these kids! I just know that you made such an eternal impact on them and I'm glad that it sounds like God was really reaching out to you through this trip. Keep the blogs and pics coming! Love it!
ReplyDelete